The investigation on radiation level and radiation protection in nuclear medicine diagnosis workplace

Objective To investigate the current situation of radiation protection in nuclear medicine diagnosis workplace. Methods The study was performed in 3 hospitals in northeast, north and central of China from February to December in 2013. The γ dose rate instrument was used to detect the workplace ambient dose equivalent rate of medicine preparation, leaching, packing, injection and imaging. Individual effective dose and equivalent dose were evaluated by photoluminescent dosimeter. Results The ambient dose equivalent rate was up to 1.92 mSv/h at repacking place and 1.2 mSv/h at injection place. The ambient dose equivalent rate of patients after injection was 5.36-240 μSv/h. The hand equivalent dose was 0.01-0.02 mGy. Moreover, there were problems of staff route intersection, as well as the patients after injection staying in the public area. Conclusions Radiation workers should pay more attention to individual protection, and improve the operation proficiency to shorten the operation time. Furthermore, in order to protect public from unnecessary irradiation, there should be some changes in staff route and patients administration. Key words: Nuclear medicine diagnosis; Radiation protection; Ambient dose equivalent rate; Equivalent dose